Former England left-arm spinner Ashley Giles reckons that test captaincy can confuse Jasprit Bumrah in terms of his own utilization as a fast bowler.
According to Giles, who was speaking as a pundit on ESPNcricinfo, one of the reasons why the selectors often refrain from giving captaincy to bowlers and especially fast bowlers is because they are never sure if a bowler will be able to utilize their own abilities to the fullest when given the captaincy.
There have been occasions in the past where the bowling captains have either under-bowled themselves or over-bowled themselves and neither is ideal for the team. However, in the case of Jasprit Bumrah, he has been with the team as a vice-captain for a couple of series, which clearly means that his leadership potential is rated highly by India’s selectors and the management staff.
Jasprit Bumrah has become one of the very few fast bowlers who have captained a test team
There haven’t been too many fast bowlers in the test match history who have captained their respective teams, but at present, apart from Bumrah who is only a stand-in captain, the Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins is also leading his test side and he is doing remarkably well.
Under the captaincy of Pat Cummins, Australia beat England in the Ashes series by 4-0 at home, and then they have built on that success by performing well overseas too. They won the test series in Pakistan by 1-0 and now have started the test series in Sri Lanka by winning the first test match comfortably in Galle.
There is no reason why Bumrah can’t turn out to be as inspirational a leader as Cummins has turned out for Australia, but his first test match as captain is going to be a huge challenge for him, as it’s a vital test match considering the fact that an overseas test series is on the line.
